NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – On the second day of the Barbara Kalbus Invitational Saturday, the No. 16 UC San Diego women's water polo team split a pair matches, defeating Pomona-Pitzer and falling against No. 17 UC Davis.
The score against Pomona-Pitzer was 11-8, while the Tritons lost 9-6 to UC Davis.
On Sunday, UC San Diego will wrap up tournament play by taking on 11th-ranked Indiana for the third time in 2023.
After the 1-1 day, the Tritons are 5-10 on the season.
UC Irvine is hosting the 16-team event at the Anteater Aquatics Complex as well as Corona del Mar High School.
For complete tournament information including game results and more, visit the
Tournament Central page.
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HOW IT HAPPENED: POMONA-PITZER
Sophomore goalie
Lexi Stahl made a career-high 17 saves in the victory over Pomona-Pitzer. She totaled 10 saves in the second half, five in the third quarter and another five in the fourth. Among her saves, she stonewalled a five-meter penalty shot attempt with just over a minute remaining in the opening quarter. She also added a steal to stat totals.
Redshirt sophomore
Caroline Christl scored the game's first goal at the 6:45 mark of the first quarter to give UC San Diego an early lead. Less than a minute later, the Sagehens evened it at 1-1. However, the Tritons scored four-consecutive goals - the first from sophomore
Kendall Thomas, two by freshman
Maja Layden, and the fourth by sophomore
Lucia Doak - to go up by a score of 4-2 early in the second period. Kendall's go-ahead goal proved to be the eventual game-winner as UC San Diego kept a lead the rest of the way after going up 2-1.
The Sagehens managed to keep it close, getting back to within a single goal twice, once in the second quarter at 5-4 and once in the third quarter at 7-6. However, the Tritons scored three-straight times, twice in the third quarter and again to kick off the fourth quarter, that put them up 10-6. It was too big of a hole for Pomona-Pitzer to dig out of, a lot of that struggle made possible by Stahl turning aside multiple scoring chances.
Both Thomas and Layden finished with three goals. Junior
Annika Arroyo, sophomore
Abby Moll, and sophomore
Courtney Okumura all had single goals.
For Pomona-Pitzer, Mia Amberger led the offense with three goals. Her older sister, Zosia, made 10 saves in net as the goalkeeper for the Sagehens.
HOW IT HAPPENED: UC DAVIS
UC Davis held a 6-3 advantage at halftime. In the second half, both teams matched one another by scoring two goals each in the third quarter and a single goal each in the fourth.
UC San Diego got back within two goals twice in the second half, the final time with 5:07 left in the game when Arroyo struck for her third goal of the contest to make it 8-6. However, the Aggies shut the door on the Tritons the rest of the way while adding another goal to their total.
Doak netted two goals in the game, one coming on a five-meter penalty shot in the first quarter. Thomas rounded out UC San Diego's scoring with a single goal. Stahl made eight saves in the loss.
Kelly Hungerford and Hailey Williams each scored twice for UC Davis. Sophia Noble finished with 13 saves in the win.
Both teams got off 27 shots. UC San Diego converted on one of four power play opportunities while UC Davis was three-for-five. The Tritons scored twice on five-meter penalty shots and missed a third try in the third quarter.
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TRITON TIDBITS
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Lexi Stahl's previous career-high for saves was 14, which she racked up against Princeton earlier this season.
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Annika Arroyo leads the Tritons in point production with 30 (20 goals, 10 assists).
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Kendall Thomas is UC San Diego's goal leader with 25.
• UC San Diego and Indiana have met twice already this season with the Hoosiers winning both close games by scores of 6-5 and 12-10.
• Named after water polo icon Barbara Kalbus, the tournament has been run annually since 2007.
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UP NEXT
UC San Diego concludes its time at the tournament Sunday with a 1 p.m. game against No. 11 Indiana. The contest can be followed with
live stats.
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About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in Divisions I and II.
